FEATURE second-generation chiropractor my-self, so I had my own thoughts about it. There is a feeling of comfort that comes with taking over a clinic that you have may spent significant time visiting, receiving treatment or poten-tially had worked as a part time em-ployee. Having a chiropractor in the family and benefiting from chiroprac-tic care could also be influential. Most children go through a teen-age stage where they try and distance themselves from their parents as a means of creating their own identity. Once that stage has passed, they may find themselves more in alignment with their chiropractic parents than they expected, particularly with the renaissance of the societal validation of alternative and complementary medicine. When we view the gradual loss of the cultural authority that general medicine once enjoyed, stim-ulated by the risks, side effects, neg-ative outcomes, and widely publicized medical misadventures, the practice of allopathic medicine has become less glamourous as a career choice. The Internet has allowed more infor-mation about the nature of health care interventions to be viewed by the health care consumer. People listen carefully to their doctors but don’t always blindly accept his or her ver-dict on best practices for their health issue. That didn’t explain however, the apparent decisions of my sec-ond-generation colleagues who made their decisions 25 or more years ago. I sought out some familiar chiroprac-tors with family members in the profession and asked them these four questions: • What influences did your chiro-practic parent have that may have contributed to your becoming a chiropractor? • What surprised you about the pro-cess of becoming a chiropractor? • What was the most significant fac-tor that led you to apply to chiro-practic college? • If you were not a chiropractor, what would be your ideal occupation? PROFESSION Growing up “chiro” Second-generation chiropractors – a different breed? A BY DIRK KEENAN DIRK KEENAN is a second-generation chiropractor practicing in Ottawa’s oldest clinic for the past 34 years. Dr. Keenan pursues an active interest in multi-disciplinary clinics, Interprofessional education, and chiropractic practices abroad. He is currently in the midst of establishing an international locum service. Interested parties in international locums, multi-disciplinary practices, or interprofessional education can contact him at [email protected]. 26 Canadian Chiropractor February 2020 DR. LANE LUCK -CMCC 1984 Lane is my classmate and is still one of my closest friends. He (like me) had felt no pressure to go into chiro-practic. In fact, his mother claimed to www.canadianchiropractor.ca Lead image: © Mangostar / Adobe Stock few months ago, I attended a local chi-ropractic meeting in Ottawa. As is often done, we all intro-duced ourselves to the newer chiroprac-tors attending for the first time. It struck me how many mother-daugh-ter chiropractors were in attendance and how many second-generation chiropractors were also there, their fathers having retired. It occurred to me that there may be something uniquely influential about growing up chiropractic that doesn’t typically happen if your dad was a lawyer, or a surgeon, or veterinarian. Was leaning into your parent’s chi-ropractic world more common com-pared to other professions? I didn’t have any statistics so it was worth exploring: Was there some ingredient that motivated sons or daughters of chiropractors to pursue a profession in which they would have witnessed both the highs and the lows of prac-tice? Before interviewing anyone, I cre-ated my own list of questions that might help me discover if there was an underlying reason. I’m a
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